1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates to cooling tower fill assemblies and particularly to an improved splash-type fill bar construction for use in cooling tower installations.
Splash-type cooling towers are well known in the art. They are generally characterized by streams of water falling on fill bars arranged in a geometrical pattern within a cavity beneath a water distributing system. The water falling by means of gravity splashes upon contact with the fill bars to form smaller droplets in a moving air stream.
In general, such cooling towers include a large housing through the side of which air is admitted and from the top of which the air is exhausted by suitable means such as exhaust fans. The water to be cooled is distributed throughout the housing from the upper surface of the housing by means such as the distributing pan. The water falls by gravity to a basin at the lower portion of the housing and is cooled during its descent by its intimate contact with air moving through the housing. During its descent, the water is broken into smaller droplets by splashing upon fill bars which are interspersed throughout the cavity defined by the interior of the housing. The splash fill bars thus break up the downward flow of water and provide surface area for commingling the water and air passing through the housing to promote cooling. As is well known, such cooling towers may be of the cross-flow type in which the air flows transversely to the descent of the water or of the counter-flow type in which the air travels in the direction opposite to the descent of the water. The improved splash bar and splash fill assembly of a cooling tower in accordance with the present invention are applicable to both counter-flow and cross-flow towers and are, in general, applicable to all types of towers in which the water is to be cooled or in which water provides the cooling medium.
More particularly, cooling towers employing splash-type fill may be characterized by the fact that streams of water fall upon fill bars arranged in a geometrical pattern wherein the water splashes upon contact and forms smaller droplets in a moving air stream. As the drops fall downwardly, some of the drops coalesce and impinge on lower splash bars, repeating the cycle. Exposure of the relatively warm drops of water to the moving air stream causes the water to cool and partially evaporate. Interrupting the fall of the individual drops by coalescing, splashing on the fill bars, or sub-dividing into new drops to expose more surface area, promotes rapid cooling.
2. Descripton of the Prior Art
Splash-type fill bars have long been utilized in the art as an effective fill material for heat exchanging cooling towers. They have in the past been made from wood, such as redwood, but are today more commonly made from solid, extruded plastic material, sheet metal, aluminum or the like. These materials avoid the disadvantages of wooden splash bars, such as deterioration by rotting and increased possibility of fire hazard.
The cross-sectional configuration of many types of splash fill bars used today vary considerably from application to application. Three examples of splash bars having different configurations are disclosed in Deflon, U.S. Pat. No. 3,389,895; Fordyce, U.S. Pat. No. 3,647,191; and Ovard, U.S Pat. No. 4,133,851.
Fill assemblies comprising splash bars of a particular profile are chosen in accordance with the job requirements. Of course, all configurations should promote optimal cooling and uniformity of liquid dispersement. Moreover, manufacturers of splash-type fill material strive to obtain improved cooling performance and structural strength using less material.